Vladimir Putin crackdown on protest sparks record Moscow rally

UNBOWED by an escalation in the Kremlin’s crackdown on the opposition, tens of thousands of Russians flooded central Moscow yesterday in the first mass protest against president Vladimir Putin since his inauguration in May.

Opposition leaders put the number of protesters at 120,000, while police estimated that about 20,000 attended.

The crowd appeared to be smaller than at the anti-Putin demonstrations ahead of the March presidential election, which drew as many as 100,000 people, but the turnout was still impressive in a country where such protests had brought out no more than a few hundred people only several months ago.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After tolerating the protests through the winter, Mr Putin has taken a tougher stance since embarking on his third presidential term, including signing a repressive new law last week that stiffens penalties for taking part in unauthorised rallies.

Police on Monday searched opposition leaders’ apartments, carting away computers, mobile phones and other personal items. They also demanded opposition leaders come in for questioning yesterday, a national holiday. They were ordered to appear just an hour before the rally began, in what was seen as a crude attempt to scare away the protesters.

Leftist politician Sergei Udaltsov snubbed the summons, saying he considered it his duty to lead the protests. He spoke at the rally and then appeared for questioning after it was over.

Anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny, liberal activist Ilya Yashin and TV host Ksenia Sobchak did show up for questioning. Mr Yashin made it to the rally in time to speak at the end, but Mr Navalny’s interrogation lasted more than six hours and then investigators drove him to his office to conduct another search. “It’s horrible to sit here while you are having fun,” Mr Navalny tweeted from the Investigative Committee headquarters. Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said police had found more than $480,000 (£308,000) in cash at Ms Sobchak’s apartment and investigators were looking into whether she had paid her taxes.

Ms Sobchak, a glamorous 30-year-old socialite, insisted she had done nothing wrong and was keeping her savings at home because she doesn’t trust banks.

Braving a brief thunderstorm, protesters showed up on the central Pushkin Square ahead of the planned march and their numbers grew as they began parading down boulevards to a broad avenue where the rally was held.

Police, who had clashed with protesters at the last mass anti-Putin protest, stood guard but took no action. The demonstration ended peacefully six hours after it had begun.

“Those in power should feel this pressure. We will protest by any means, whether peacefully or not,” said Anton Maryasov, a 25-year-old student. “If they ignore us that will mean that bloodshed is inevitable.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Another protester, 20-year-old student Anatoly Ivanyukov, said his professors discouraged them from attending, but this only made him and his friends more determined to take part. “It’s like when you forbid children from doing something, it makes them even more eager to come,” he said.

Leading figures of anti-Putin front: From hard left, to Russia’s answer to Paris Hilton

ALEXEI NAVALNY

The 36-year-old corruption-fighting lawyer and blogger has played a key role in mobilising Russia’s internet generation to rally against Vladimir Putin’s rule. Navalny spearheaded a series of rallies in Moscow during the winter that brought up to 100,000 people into the streets in the run-up to the March vote in which Putin won a third presidential term. He has more than 250,000 followers on Twitter.

Navalny has tapped into people’s anger over the corruption. After he described Putin’s political party as the “party of crooks and thieves,” the catchphrase stuck.

SERGEI UDALTSOV

The leader of the Left Front opposition movement, 35-year-old Udaltsov has been at the forefront of the anti-Putin protests for several years. A great-grandson of a Bolshevik revolutionary, Udaltsov has staged unsanctioned marches and rallies. He also launched numerous hunger strikes and spent weeks in hospitals amid concerns about his health.

During his political career, Udaltsov has been arrested more than 100 times and spent months in prison. He refused to show up for questioning yesterday and went to the opposition march instead.

KSENIA SOBCHAK

The 30-year-old socialite, TV host and restaurateur, who often has been described as a Russia’s Paris Hilton, has become the glamorous face of the opposition.

She is the daughter of the late mayor of St Petersburg, who was Mr Putin’s mentor in the 1990s.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A personal relationship with Mr Putin initially seemed to shield her from reprisals, but that immunity may have come to an end with a raid on her apartment on Monday. She tweeted that an investigator told her that she had made a mistake by mixing up with “bad company.” “I never thought that we would slide back to such repressions,” she said.

ILYA YASHIN

The 28-year-old member of the leadership of the opposition Solidarity movement has been among the organisers of the recent anti-Putin protests. A fiery speaker, Yashin is a passionate critic of the government.

“A smart government deals with reasons for protest. A stupid government fights protesters,” he said on his blog.